ATTORNEYS

Media and Entertainment

• Obtained a favorable bench trial ruling and appellate rulings for the heirs of the creator of “Hawaii Five-0” in a rights dispute with the creator’s former talent agent. The case ultimately settled during a jury trial on the heirs’ affirmative claims.
• Successfully represented outdoor advertising companies for more than a decade in a variety of major disputes, many of which involve First Amendment issues. Matters have addressed whether government regulations unconstitutionally discriminate based on content, whether fees affecting the industry are unconstitutionally excessive, whether tolling of penalties is constitutionally required when applied to speech activities, and the extent to which governments may treat government property differently than private property for purposes of outdoor advertising regulations.
• Successfully defended Current TV LLC and former Vice President Al Gore in district court and on appeal against claims brought by a consultant seeking a multi-million dollar “finder’s fee” in connection with the sale of Current to Al Jazeera.
• Successfully defended a media group and several of its executives, obtaining a dismissal that was affirmed on appeal, in a lawsuit filed by a former executive claiming fraud, legal malpractice, and an illegal dismissal.
• Representing heirs of a holocaust survivor in a federal court action against a Spanish state-owned museum for restitution of fine art looted by Nazis.
• Resolved on behalf of a media company a distribution fee audit and dispute concerning its fantasy titles.
• Successfully represented Outfront Media in defeating competitor’s challenge to major public transit contract.
• Represented cable TV stations, TV production companies, radio broadcasters, individuals, and high-tech companies in disputes concerning licensing, partnership and LLC obligations, royalty audits, finders’ fees, rights of first refusal, copyright termination, idea submission, defamation, and other business disputes.
• In the City of Los Angeles’ ongoing battles over billboards, defeated a competitor’s attempt at trial and on appeal to demolish the billboards of client, Outfront Media (formerly CBS Outdoor), and to force Outfront Media to pay millions of dollars in lawyer’s fees. Prevailed at trial and on appeal.
• Filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in the Viacom v. YouTube case on behalf of a group of legal and economics scholars from multiple universities, including Harvard, Yale, and Columbia in a Digital Millennium Copyright Case.
• Filed an amicus brief on behalf of Google, Yahoo!, and AltaVista to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a fair use doctrine case.

Constitutional Litigation, Appeals, and Advice

• Successfully defended a law firm on appeal against a defamation and trade libel lawsuit concerning a law firm press release.
• Representing Los Angeles County in a lawsuit seeking to invalidate a new state law that puts the redrawing of county supervisors’ districts in the hands of a 14-member citizens committee.
• Represent neighborhood associations and hotel industry group in amicus brief addressing zoning issues and opposing Airbnb’s claim of immunity under Communications Decency Act.
• Represented Greenpeace USA in Ninth Circuit appeal of injunction against protest activity relating to Arctic drilling.
• Won summary judgment and Supreme Court affirmance for the California State Senate, in a redistricting challenge.
• Served as special outside counsel to Los Angeles County in connection with County redistricting following 2010 census.
• As amicus curiae, successfully represented the League of California Cities and a major outdoor advertising company in obtaining a Ninth Circuit appellate victory holding that a city contract allowing outdoor advertising in connection with mass transit did not invalidate a ban on new off-site signs on private property. Argued the appeal against constitutional law scholar Laurence Tribe.

Commercial Litigation and Appeals

• Successfully defended attorneys and law firms against malpractice claims.
• Represented North County Communications Corp., a leading cell phone service provider, in an appellate matter regarding private rights of action to enforce compensation provisions of the Federal Communications Act.
• Argued successfully before the California Court of Appeal to uphold dismissal of tort claims in an appeal arising from the sale of semiconductor processing equipment that was the source of a patent infringement claim.
• Reached a mutually beneficial resolution in litigation concerning allegations of misappropriation of trade secrets for an online content network in its claims against a competitor after taking over the matter from another firm weeks before trial.
• Obtained forum non conveniens dismissal for a French high-tech company during a technology licensing dispute.
• Represented a leading securities industry trade group in the filing of an amicus brief in the Fifth Circuit regarding third-party liability for securities violations in civil litigation arising out of the Enron scandal.
• Represented a leading DVR manufacturer in defending a $94 million judgment for patent infringement and to enforce an injunction.
• Represented a non-profit research organization in a complex patent licensing dispute before the U.S. Supreme Court and a district court.
• Filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court concerning the exhaustion of method patent claims.
• Filed an amicus brief on behalf of the American Association of Universities and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges in a U.S. Supreme Court case regarding injunctions in patent infringement cases.

Pro Bono Litigation

• In a landmark case, serving as co-counsel with Lambda Legal and People for the American Way Foundation, secured rights for Orange County high school students in a gay-straight alliance to be able to meet on the same terms as other student groups. Today, there are 4,000 such groups in the U.S.
• Represent civil rights and pro-democracy organizations in filing amicus briefs challenging partisan gerrymandering before the U.S. Supreme Court and Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
• Served as lead counsel and argued pro bono before the U.S. Supreme Court in Pasquantino v. U.S. Following the Court’s ruling, the client’s 21-month sentence was vacated.
• Represented then-Assembly Speaker John Pérez, a group of leading scholars, and national and local women’s rights organizations in amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, and other appellate courts, defending the constitutional right for same-sex couples to marry and challenging California’s Proposition 8, which was ultimately overturned.
• Represented the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund as an amicus curiae in a successful U.S. Supreme Court challenge to a Texas criminal law that punished same-sex sexual conduct.
• Co-authored an amicus brief on behalf of the Brennan Center of Justice that challenged partisan gerrymandering in a Pennsylvania redistricting case, League of Women Voters v. Pennsylvania General Assembly. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently found the state’s congressional district maps are a partisan gerrymander and ordered the General Assembly to develop new maps.
• Co-authored an amicus brief on behalf of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. that challenged partisan redistricting in Gill v. Whitford, a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.